TORONTO — People across Ontario will be consulted before a new sex-education curriculum is drafted, Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday in an attempt to quell concerns over his government’s controversial decision to scrap the updated lesson plan.

The Progressive Conservatives were accused of flip-flopping on the issue Monday after the education minister said in the legislature that concepts like gender identity, consent and cyber safety would still be taught in the fall only to backtrack on her comments hours later.

Ford had pledged to repeal and replace the curriculum, which the Liberals updated in 2015, and his government said last week that when students return to class this fall they will be taught a version of the curriculum introduced in 1998, sparking anger from some teachers and parents who say that document is outdated.

“We’re going to hit 124 ridings,” he said, calling it “the largest consultation ever in Ontario’s history when it comes to education.”

Ford also attempted to allay concerns from critics that reverting back to the old curriculum means important issues like cyber safety, gender identity and consent wont’ be taught, putting children at risk.

“I think everyone is going to be pleasantly surprised,” he said. “I really do. I don’t think this is the end of the world. I think it’s actually healthy. When it comes to teaching our kids, we have to consult with the parents.”

Ford said that during the spring election parents across Ontario told him they wanted more input into the curriculum’s design.

“We want to go and consult with the parents and get their input,” he said. “Then we’ll move forward with changing the curriculum.”

Ford’s opposition to the new sex-ed curriculum during the Progressive Conservative leadership race earlier this year won him the support of social conservatives, helping him to victory over longtime Tory legislator and current health minister Christine Elliott.

NDP legislator Peter Tabuns said the reason the Ford government is replacing the curriculum is to please social conservatives.

“Look at who (Premier Ford’s) backers are,” he said. “We’re talking about some very deeply conservative, social conservative thinkers who think we should be back in the 19th century or earlier.”

Going backwards, Tabuns said, puts children at risk.

Meanwhile, a group of teachers have started an online pledge form, urging fellow educators to sign up and promise to continue to teach the updated version of the curriculum in their classrooms this fall.

Kate Curtis, speaking for the group who created the pledge, said the teachers are acting out of a sense of moral and ethical duty to their students.

“We as teachers know that we have a professional and ethical obligation to make sure that our students are safe, that they feel included both in our classrooms and also that they’re reflected in the curriculum.”

Curtis said the 1998 curriculum does not reflect the reality of a teenager’s life in 2018 and does not accurately reference cyber safety, consent or gender identity.

“The world has changed immensely in the last 20 years,” she said. “Students are reflecting that change at school … we really have to reflect that.”

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I will be extremely interested to see how the Ford government will consult with all parents in all 124 ridings- and then, having done that monumental task, how they will rank the suggestions given. Will there be more weight given to particular groups?
And then, how long will it take to rewrite the curriculum?

I was fascinated by Premier Ford’s answers to reporters at the press conference. He first insisted that it was the 2014 curriculum that would be used , saying that it ‘wasn’t that much older than the 2015 one.’ When a number reporters pointed out that it was the same curriculum from 1998-2014, he appeared not to understand the question.
I wonder if either the Premier or the Minister of Education has ever read the two curricula.

OK, so. Despite the extensive, province-wide consultations carried out by the previous government, Ford’s crew wants to do it all over again.

So. How will this be done? How will we know that the population of people consulted will constitute a representative sample of the population of the province? (I ask this just because we already know the competence with which previous Con governments in various areas have conducted surveys. Not.)

Second question. Ford’s quote mentions consultations with parents. Dear god-help-us-Premier Ford: parents are not the only concerned citizens in Ontario. A little reminder: there are experts in this field.
There are also educators, some with decades of experience.
There are health administrators and staff, who see the consequences of inappropriate and/or inadequate health information. (That includes health units, physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, mental health professionals, substance use professionals, …)
There are coaches, community workers, …
And, Dougie, there are members of the general public, including people who have been parents in the past.
We all, as a society, have a stake in an issue like this. Get the point?
So how is it that you’re going to identify, then assess, then decide on, the opinions of all of us?
How is it that you’re going to balance knowledge and experience with personal values, and weigh them?
Do tell.

If the Ford government™ is going to hold consultations in all 124 Ontario provincial ridings on education, how about making it a serious discussion on a long overdue issue – the abolition of the discriminatory Catholic school system. Quebec and Newfoundland abolished their publicly-funded religious school systems in the 1990s. It does not require an “opening” of the Constitution. It is an issue long overdue for debate in Ontario.

This Ontarian and cradle Catholic is all for the abolition of this outdated, discriminatory system. It was created to quell minority worries in the 1840s when Lord Durham forced the amalgamation of then Upper and Lower Canada. If Quebec (Lower Canada) could do it, then so can Ontario (Upper Canada).

Because there are many parents who either don’t know how or don’t care to have these discussions. The sexual education from my parents essentially consisted of one short, awkward conversation that amounted to “use protection” and nothing more. What I got in school was better but still inadequate. Fortunately I was able to find decent online sources to educate myself in my teens but we shouldn’t rely on that happening for everyone. And I was also fortunate to not have to deal with any sexually abusive or manipulative situations, sexting wasn’t a thing yet, etc.

This particular issue is too important to just shrug our shoulders and say “only parents should do it” and then stand around cluelessly when the parents don’t do it well and the child suffers.